Thought I should share what it was like. Long read but shares what I did and experience what I got to see. Was fun writing it.


Lake Conroe

Went out at 4 a.m Sunday before the guys got there and launched the boat. Lucky there was a free launch area on the north side cause all the others were paid. Went to the launch site were the pros are and about 5 game wardens were lined up blocking access so I decided to head toward the dam and watch bass live on my phone.

Freaking cool sitting on Conroe in your boat and waiting for them to launch and watching bass live. 7:20am came and about 50 boats went out and guess who came hauling but towards me at the dam. MIKE ICONELLI didn't realise who it was at first until I saw big Toyota letters on the side of his boat. He stared fishing right next to me I was only one at the dam. Funny thing is he didn't say a word just started fishing. Cool experience tho nothing like just watching it on tv.

So I got bored watching ICONELLI cast and his 30 other boats next to me and started headed to the ramp to go to the expo in Houston. To be honest alot of people on the forums said it pointless to be out there with the pros but just seeing them out there next to you after you've been watching them since you were a kid is pretty cool. I was headed back to the ramp and saw about 30 boats following another boat, and decided to see who it was and sure enough it was Kevin Van Dam him and Mike were the only ones I really wanted to see. It's funny when your out there and you see 50 boats following a guy and know it's a pro crazy experience. KVD was just casting at the bulk heads but people in there house would come out and take pictures he didn't say anything.

Btw Bassmaster live has about a 2-3 minute delay so really it's not live lol


EXPO


After watching Kevin I decided to leave, most guys just followed him everywhere. I got off the lake and headed toward the expo. The expo was full of people mainly seemed like an attraction for Houston so alot of people there probably didn't know fishing but with huge crowds people would follow. Went inside and the place was freaking huge I decided I would go find Tommy Sanders and Mark Zona they were in the middle of the expo and people would crowd around them while they did bass live. I got to see Gary Klein, Hank Parker, and Aaron Martens. Mainly just watched bass live



WEIGH IN


Once the Tourny was over people at the expo stormed out of there and we headed to Minute maid park for the WEIGH in I took uber cause the crowds were too massive and knew it would help get there sooner which it did. Took about 30 minutes before they let you in and the line was backed up way down the street. Once we got in i decided i would find the best seat, I sat near the top cause they had reserved seating at the bottom and in the middle was bad cause of peoples heads. The WEIGH in seemed like forever to start and they did alot of promos before it and giving stuff away. Once the WEIGH in began we watch about 20 guys before the super 6 came out. Jordan Lee was not in the super six which was crazy that he beat out the main show guys. When Jordan Lee had 27 pounds the crowd was so loud I watched it on YouTube after the show and you can hardly hear the crowd but being there is crazy. The experience being there is so different and better. Crazy how Jordan Lee won I didn't expect it since he wasn't in the super 6 they made a big deal about the super six. Was cool watching him hold up the trophy the place went Crazy!


Final thoughts



Overall it's a cool experience being at the classic, if I got the chance to do it again I wouldn't go out on the lake but seeing the pros was a cool experience it just gets boring after. They probably won't have another classic in Texas for along time so in that sense it was worth it. Best part was everything was free only thing I paid for was Hotel and Uber.

A coworker told me about taking Uber over to Minute Maid as well...I told him he makes more money than me, cause there ain't no way I'm paying someone to carry me that short of a distance

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience this weekend...glad to hear you had a good one as well

Thanks for sharing. I think my wife and I are planning to go to the Classic at Lake Hartwell next year. Neither of us have ever been to that part of the country.

It was a whole 3 blocks between the weigh in and the Expo.

What a great and thoughtful comment. Im sure everyone just benefitted from your wisdom.

I thoroughly enjoyed the Expo. So many familiar tackle vendors. Stopped by Andy's Custom Jigs and heard that after Edwin Evers won last year, they received 14,000 orders. It was cool seeing Zona and team broadcast live. There were some good sales too if you didn't mind waiting in line. Great time!

The Classic was Awesome.....Best experience ever....Son is a High School bass angler and he loved it he told me it was life changing...Wants to dedicate himself to being on Classic stage....

Cool!

My wife and son all Loved it!

This classic was my first time to attend and it was an awesome experience! my girlfriend even enjoyed the whole set up and weigh in and everything! she not a big fishing person but it made her think more about it!! would love to attend another one and hope to be able to soon! was very nice venue and everything close together and put together very well in my opinion! had some awesome deals and got to meet some great people as well as all the pros that I have watched over the years growing up!! was a great weekend and loved every minute of it!!!

Been fishing all my life and tourney fishing over half of it and never went to the Classic until this one. I have been to many weigh-ins and followed a couple times but nothing compares to the classic. The EXPO was the best fishing/boat show for a bass fisherman you will ever attend. If it wasn't in there it's either not made or you don't need it--LOL!! The weigh-in was a real shown. Hardly a dry eye in the crowd when Jordan won!!

2nd one in a row for me if you are a die hard fisherman you have to attend the expo you will see and hear about every bait that will catch a fish just don't pretend you are the fish and the vendors are the fisherman or you just may get hooked into a few new baits. lol